Collaborative work brings Laura Lynne’s colorful art to life

Mixed media artist and muralist Laura Lynne knew she wanted to be a creative since she was a young girl. “After high school I went to school for art, but then straight into the corporate world for work for the next 10 years,” she says. “My son was born in 2012, and I was lucky to be able to stay home with him. During his naps and after bed I started working on my art again. Now, I feel so grateful when people ask what I do for a living. I can truly say, ‘I am an artist.’”

Lynne credits the birth of her son and yoga teacher training to evolving her craft, pushing her to create works that reflect the wonderment of childhood, nature and colorful fascination. Lynne studied figure drawing and photography in high school, lessons that helped build a through-line in her art based in light and value. She moved on to University of Wisconsin Madison then UW-Milwaukee, and spent a summer traveling around Europe, Mediterranean countries and Egypt. Eventually, she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration of painting and drawing.

Her life experiences and events helped shape the creative she is today. “A formula for my art style might be something like this: nature + magic + whimsy + color = Laura Lynne Art,” says Lynne. “I know a piece of art is finished when it ‘sparks joy’ in my heart, as Marie Kondo would say. Roald Dahl says, ‘And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.’ I strive to believe in and portray the magic.”

In 2025, Lynne is dedicating herself to exploring more in her art and challenging her comfort zone. “The grants I’ve been receiving for the last 4 years are expiring at the end of June, so I am going to challenge myself in 2025 to be even more disciplined and take even more risks in my business,” she says. “Already, I have a list of mural and watercolor pet portrait commissions so that is a good start.”

Just this past January, Laura completed a mural for Rush Copley Healthcare Center in Yorkville. The scale and detail of the project was a rewarding experience for Lynne. “I hired another artist to assist, Mari Dzhelasi, and the whole project went so much faster,” she says. “It made me think back to my first few murals where I made so many rookie mistakes, like not planning out the colors first or not mixing enough of the colors beforehand and not using a projector. I’m definitely still learning, but doing the last mural really made me realize how far I’ve come and how much I’ve developed my mural painting process.”

In her career, Lynne finds that collaborative works with elementary-aged students are some of her most challenging and fulfilling endeavors. “Creating large-scale collaborative artworks with elementary-aged students is a lot of work but so rewarding,” she says. “First, I pick a local nature theme like wetlands, coniferous forests or city wildlife. Then, I create 6-8 art lessons based on the elements and principles of art, along with an animal or plant based on the theme. The students send me a photo of their artworks, then I size, print and cut them out and arrange them in a 3x4 foot collage. The kids love finding the art they created within the large collage. These projects take weeks to complete, but seeing the students’ excitement at the art reveal is so worth it. It’s also so rewarding to see the students grow as artists each year.”

Don’t miss the gorgeous and fantastical works of this local artist and find out more at www.LauraLynneArt.com or www.LauraLynneArt.com/Murals.